A lawsuit alleges deliberate indifference on the part of Oklahoma's Owasso Public Schools to known bullying and sexual harassment that caused a school sophomore’s suicide in 2024.
The lawsuit filed Thursday in Tulsa federal court on behalf of Nex Benedict’s mother, Sue Benedict, and her child’s estate, makes both civil rights claims and wrongful death/negligence claims against the district in an 18-page complaint.
Benedict is also referred to as Dagney Ellis Benedict in the federal lawsuit.
The Owasso High School sophomore, who identified as nonbinary and preferred masculine or gender-neutral pronouns, died Feb. 8, 2024, one day after a fight in a school restroom. Benedict’s death became a rallying cry for LGBTQ+ advocates who thought the student might have been the victim of a hate crime.
Nikita Payne (right) and others protest outside Owasso High School last year in response to the death of student Nex Benedict.
Benedict’s autopsy cites suicide as the cause of death due to combined toxicity of drugs commonly known as Prozac and Benadryl.
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The autopsy also detailed injuries Benedict possibly sustained in the fight but which were not lethal.
“For years, Owasso Public Schools has ignored reports of bullying and sexual harassment of its students, including Nex Benedict,” the lawsuit begins. “Owasso Public Schools received numerous reports that Nex was constantly being bullied and harassed by other students based on Nex’s gender identity.”
But Owasso Public Schools refused to take those reports seriously, the lawsuit alleges.
In one example, the lawsuit claims that Benedict made multiple reports to a teacher during the 2021-22 school year that other students were directing slurs like “fag” and “queer” at Benedict.
While the teacher reported the incidents to a principal, no one from the school district took any action, the lawsuit claims.
During the 2023-24 school year, Benedict’s mother made at least three reports of bullying and abuse to school officials, all with no action being taken by the school district, the lawsuit claims.
“As a direct and proximate result of the school district’s actions and inaction, Nex suffered severe and irreparable harm to their physical, mental, and emotional health and wellbeing,” the lawsuit says. “Nex experienced physical injury, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, suicidal ideations, and self-harm. Nex also suffered academic decline, loss of educational opportunities, and deprivations of their right to personal security and bodily integrity, as well as their right to be free from discrimination on the basis of sex.”
“Ultimately, the school district’s indifference to Nex and the sexual harassment and abuse they suffered cost Nex their life,” the lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit also cites an investigation by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights following Benedict’s death.
In November, the federal agency announced that it had reached an agreement with Owasso Public Schools regarding the sexual harassment allegations.
Among the concerns found in the investigation as going unaddressed by the district were reports of a teacher using social media to groom female students; multiple students being subjected to repeated sex-based slurs, harassment and physical assault; and a male student repeatedly making unwelcome sexual comments to a female student both at school and on the school bus.
Owasso Public Schools agreed to provide training to staff and review and revise its policies related to Title IX of the Civil Rights Act.
But school district officials said the agreement “does not constitute an admission that the District is not in compliance with Title IX and/or the 2020 Title IX regulation.”
The district also denied that it knew of acts of harassment in its programs and activities “that were so severe, pervasive and objectively offensive that it deprived any student of access to the educational benefits of opportunities provided by the district.”
A spokesman for the district declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Nex Benedict's death: All the coverage from the Tulsa World, Owasso Reporter
A federal agreement with Owasso Public Schools was prompted by a complaint initially filed by the Human Rights Campaign in response to the death of Owasso student Nex Benedict.
We can only report on the known facts at the time. We would rather be accurate than first. Anything less would be a disservice to Nex Benedict, the editorial states.
Police are investigating the death of a nonbinary student, Nex Benedict, who died after being involved in a fight inside an Owasso High School restroom.
While investigations are ongoing, the Benedict family said it is "independently interviewing witnesses and collecting all available evidence."
Owasso police are interviewing school staff and students and will forward their investigation into the death of Nex Benedict to the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office for prosecution review.
“We understand that people are concerned, ... and we can assure everyone that this incident is being taken seriously and is being investigated thoroughly,” police said about the death of 16-year-old Nex Benedict.
Owasso police are investigating the death of a teenager one day after they were reportedly involved in a fight at school.
A school resource officer tells Benedict they "essentially started it" and that pursuing assault charges "may not go the direction you want it to go."
Hundreds gathered Sunday at Owasso’s Redbud Festival Park to join in the vigil for Benedict, a 16-year-old Owasso High School student who died…
People attend a candlelight service for Nex Benedict at Point A Gallery in Oklahoma City on Saturday. Owasso police are investigating the deat…
People gather for a candlelight vigil in memory of Nex Benedict Sunday at Tulsa's Guthrie Green.
Sophomore Nex Benedict died the day after getting into a fight in a school restroom with girls the 16-year-old identified as bullies. The DA called it an "instance of mutual combat."
"In memory of Nex, we must all recommit to our work to end discrimination and address the suicide crisis impacting too many nonbinary and transgender children," the president's statement says.
The report provided Wednesday by the state medical examiner states Nex Benedict, 16, took a fatal combination of two drugs commonly known as Benadryl and Prozac.
The Owasso Public Schools Board of Education on Monday heard from several attendees who voiced their concerns about the district’s handling of and response to student Nex Benedict’s death.
Dozens of activists confronted members of Westboro Baptist Church, first outside Owasso Public Schools’ Education Service Center, then outside Owasso High School, where hundreds more assembled to demonstrate.
The district received notice Friday of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights based on a complaint filed by the LGBTQ+ advocacy organization Human Rights Campaign. #oklaed
A letter sent to lawmakers, organized by LGBTQ+ group Freedom Oklahoma, comes in the wake of the death of Owasso High School sophomore Nex Benedict.
"Owasso doesn’t really do much about the whole bullying thing," a student leader said. "I feel like it’s swept underneath the rug and kids aren’t really cared for.” #oklaed
While Sen. Tom Woods, R-Westville, said the death of 16-year-old Owasso student Nex Benedict is "horrible," he did not apologize for saying, "I represent a constituency that doesn't want that filth in Oklahoma."
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